One Marvellous Adventure
by mycookiegirl
Summary: "Life's just one marvellous adventure, whether it's long or short, good or bad, it's still marvellous, and everyday is a new adventure."
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Soda, why do you like dying the food different colors?" Ponyboy asked his brother as Sodapop proceeded to mix food coloring into the mashed potatoes.

"Why do you like keeping the food their normal colors?" Sodapop shot back, and he fake-glared at his little brother before bursting into fits of laughter. Ponyboy rolled his eyes; why did his brother find everything funny?

"Cause, I'm not strange like you." Ponyboy muttered, and ducked as Sodapop reached out and tried to ruffle his younger brother's hair. Ponyboy however, wasn't having any of it.

"Aww, Pony, you're no fun!" Sodapop complained as Ponyboy swiped the food coloring off of the counter and put it back in the cabinet.

"Soda, forget it; I'm not eating green and red mashed potatoes!" Ponyboy said seriously, but then chuckled when he saw Soda's evil grin. "Uh oh, it's the grin! What's gonna happen to me now?" Ponyboy asked as Soda turned the stove off and started walking towards his younger brother.

"You Ponyboy Curtis…are gonna get tickled to death!" Soda screamed, and pounced on Ponyboy. He dug his fingers into Ponyboy's sides as the younger greaser squealed below him.

"N-no, Soda! Anything but that!" Ponyboy begged, and very soon he was starting to cry from the amount of laughter that he was producing.

It felt good to hear Ponyboy laugh; he hardly ever laughed anymore; not since Johnny and Dally had died.

Soda continued to tickle Ponyboy until the boy finally kneed him in his private area. Sodapop groaned, and pushed himself off of the ground and looked at Ponyboy who was dusting off his jeans with his hands.

"That's cheating." Sodapop protested, and then went back over to the stove and heated it up again.

"Well, if there's rules, then tickling is also cheating." Ponyboy declared, and sauntered over to the stove. He looked into the pan that was boiling, and saw some sort of red liquid bubbling inside it.

"Soda, what the hell is that?!" Ponyboy asked in disgust. Sodapop looked into the pan and pulled the same face that Ponyboy was pulling.

"I don't know…Darry told me to put it in the pan. He's been having some weird cravings lately. Hey…maybe he's pregnant!" Sodapop laughed, and for the second time that day, Ponyboy rolled his eyes.

"That's disgusting, Soda." Ponyboy said to his brother, and marched back into the living room. Sodapop chuckled and continued to stir whatever was in the pan with his mother's old wooden spoon.

After twenty minutes, all of the food was finally ready…except for the red liquid. Sodapop turned the stove off and just left the pan sitting there; he didn't want to eat it but he didn't want to throw it away in case Darry wanted it.

After the two youngest Curtis's had finished their food, Ponyboy left to go study for an upcoming exam while Soda watched TV in the living room.

It was another thirty minutes of waiting before Darry finally strolled into the house. He looked pale and cold; yet his cheeks were flushed bright pink.

"Hey Dar, you don't look so good. You okay?" Soda asked with concern laced in his usually calm voice.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine; my back just hurts more than usual, that's all." Darry sighed, and sat down on the sofa next to his brother.

"Oh, well me and Pony ate dinner. There's some of that weird red stuff on the stove if you want that; me and Pony didn't touch it." Sodapop said to Darry, and Darry raised his eyebrows.

"Why didn't you eat it?" Darry questioned, and Sodapop looked at his brother like he was the stupidest person ever.

"We didn't know what it was, so we just left it." Sodapop answered, and Darry shook his head.

"It was just tomato soup, you dingbat." Darry chuckled, and Soda looked up at his older brother.

"Oops." Soda muttered. Darry smiled.

"Go on, go watch TV or something." Darry said, and then looked around the living room. "Where's Ponyboy?" he asked.

"He's studying for some test in his bedroom." Sodapop answered, and strolled over to the sofa and switched the TV on again.

Darry took the soup off the stove and poured it into a bowl. The scent of the soup made him feel sick yet he didn't know why; he loved tomato soup.

Even though his stomach was disagreeing, Darry knew that he needed to eat; he hadn't eaten all day since he had felt a little nauseous when he woke up.

Meanwhile, Ponyboy was in his bedroom studying for his English exam. He no longer shared a bedroom with Soda anymore; both of them decided that they needed their own space.

As Ponyboy flipped through his copy of _To kill a mockingbird_, he couldn't help but think about Darry. His brother looked very pale, too pale, and his eyes had a gross yellow and white crust circling them.

Pony had asked Darry if he was okay, but Darry just responded that he was going to be late to work and ran out of the house before Ponyboy could say anything else. Ponyboy began worrying, but Soda assured him that Darry was just tired; Darry had hardly had any sleep the night before because his stomach felt funny.

Ponyboy shut his book and made his way into the living room where Soda was watching some stupid 50's show and Darry was eating the tomato soup, though he didn't look as if he was enjoying it.

"Uh Darry, your eye looks yellow." Ponyboy said nervously, observing his brother's eyes. He still had the ice-blue shards, but where the sclera was supposed to be white, it was instead a light yellow color.

Darry set his soup down on the coffee table and walked over to the mirror, and scanned his reflection in the mirror.

"Dammit; I must have jaundice." Darry sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Don't rub it! You'll make it worse!" Ponyboy scolded, and Darry smiled at him.

"When I need my kid brother to tell me what to do, I'll ask ya alright?" he chuckled, and Ponyboy cracked a grin.

"Not this again!" Ponyboy laughed, and Darry grabbed him in a headlock and started rubbing his hair.

"No! Leave my hair alone!" Ponyboy ordered, escaping out of his brother's grip. "Why's everybody obsessed with messing up my hair?" Ponyboy asked his brothers.

"It's just because you're the youngest; you're easier to pick on." Sodapop smiled. "Hey Dar, you eatin' your soup?"

"Nah; I don't feel very well. I think I'm gonna go to bed." Darry mumbled, and left to go to his bedroom.

Ponyboy and Sodapop glanced at each other worriedly; Darry hardly ever got sick. And this time, it looked worse; even when Darry was sick, he still ate. But now, the thought of food for Darry made him want to throw up.

"You think Dar's gonna be okay?" Ponyboy asked nervously. Sodapop shrugged.

"Don't matter if he's sick; we can take care of him." Sodapop said, and Ponyboy nodded.

"He'll need to go the doctors about his jaundice, though. It can't be left untreated." Ponyboy declared, and Sodapop shrugged again.

"Yeah, good luck gettin' Dar to go the doctors." Sodapop muttered as Pony made his way into Darry's room.

Darry had stripped off his shirt, but he left his jeans on. His stomach was aching, and although he knew that taking off his jeans would help, he was scared that it would hurt more if he took them off.

"Um, Darry?" Ponyboy said as Darry lay down on his bed and pulled the covers over himself.

"Yeah, Pony?" Darry mumbled, wiping some sweat off his forehead. He didn't know why he was sweating; he was absolutely freezing!

"You're gonna need to go the doctors over the jaundice." It was more of an order than a statement. Darry snickered.

"You kiddin', Pony? It's just gonna give us more bills." Darry exclaimed, looking up at his little brother.

"Well, you never hesitate when me and Soda are sick, so you're doing the same as what happens when we're sick." Ponyboy stated firmly, and Darry sighed.

"Fine…if it makes you happy. Now, leave me alone; I wanna rest." Darry muttered, and Ponyboy exited his oldest brother's room.

"He's goin'!" Ponyboy announced proudly, and Sodapop grinned.

"Nice." Soda said, and pulled his little brother down on the sofa to sit next to him.

"I'm kinda worried about Dar, Soda. Do you think he's gettin stressed out?" Ponyboy asked, and Sodapop looked at his little brother.

"Yeah, Pone, he is stressed, but I don't think that's the whole reason why he's a little sick. I'm sure he'll get over it…soon; he's Superman after all." Sodapop whispered, and Ponyboy nodded.

"Yeah…okay." Pony sighed, and settled down next to his brother.

In the next room, Darry was tossing and turning; the pain in his stomach wouldn't go away. He'd taken four aspirins that day, and still nothing was working.

The tomato soup had burnt his stomach earlier and he had wanted to scream, but he couldn't; not while Pony and Soda were watching.

**AN: Okay, so this is my first story that I'm going to be continuing. With the symptoms Darry is having, some of you can probably guess what's up with him. Pony'sgirlfriend suggested I do a sicfic, but this is gonna be a little more than that…**

**Seriously, the whole time while I was writing that chapter, I kept replaying **_**For River (orchestral version)**_** on YouTube; it gets me into an emotional mood!**


	2. Chapter 2

_1945_

"_He is so beautiful." Shannon Curtis smiled. She had given birth to her first son just a few hours ago, and she felt like the most exhausted yet happiest woman in the world._

_Her baby opened his eyes. They were a very dark blue color, but would no doubt change to their true color in a few months. They would most likely be brown or a light blue, since that's what his parent's eye colors were. _

"_My son." Darrell Curtis whispered proudly, and took the baby out of his wife's arms. The baby once again opened his eyes, this time to look at his father._

_The baby's midwife, a thin young woman with plump lips and blond hair, bustled into the room with her briefcase in her hand._

"_So, have you thought of a name for your son yet?" she asked Shannon._

_Shannon looked at her baby and then at Darrell, and could not help but notice the resemblance between the two, even if they were just small similarities._

_Darrell cradled the baby in his arms and kissed his forehead. Shannon weakly grinned._

"_His name will be Darrell Curtis Jnr." Shannon announced, and Darrell looked at her with wide eyes. Shannon smiled at her husband, and a big grin spread across Darrell's face._

"_Okay then. I have the papers in my briefcase for you both to sign." The midwife declared, not noticing the happiness beaming from Shannon and Darrell's faces. _

"_Thank you." Darrell said to the midwife, not taking his eyes off of Shannon._

_Darrell Jnr started coughing, so Darrell started rocking his baby in his arms. The baby calmed down and went back to sleep instantly; he liked whoever was holding him right now and felt comfortable._

_Darrell placed Darrell Jnr into the arms of Polly, the midwife, and he and Shannon both signed the papers that had been left out for them._

_When all of the legal things were out of the way, Shannon took Darrell Jnr from the midwife's arms and settled down to sleep._

_Polly, seeing that the family did not want to be disturbed any longer, packed up her belongings and left Shannon's room._

_Darrell smiled at his new son and wife, and then remembered that he had brought his old camera._

_He took it off the table next to Shannon's bed, and snapped the picture of his wife and son._

_Shannon was barely able to smile she was so weak, but she managed to look happy. Anybody who looked at the black and white image could see the love Shannon had for her son in her bright blue eyes._

_Darrell then set the camera up so that it was ten seconds before the photo would actually be taken. He stood by his wife and son, and smiled as the camera snapped the family photograph._

_Shannon sighed as Darrell collected the two black and white images and set them on the table, and then placed the camera next to them._

_Little Darrell Jnr was already fast asleep, and Shannon was rapidly drifting off too. _

_Darrell Curtis smiled at his family and slowly climbed onto the white bed as not to disturb his wife or child. Shannon looked up at her husband and smiled before closing her eyes and drifting away._

"_Sleep tight, my love." Darrell whispered, kissing his wife's forehead. _

_Then he turned to his son, who was breathing heavily._

"_You too, my boy." Darrell smiled gently, and planted a kiss on his only son's forehead._

**AN: I know this chapter was short, but I don't want the flashbacks to be as long as the present day chapters. Can't get enough of **_**For River**_**, I listen to it everytime I write some of this story :)  
Please review, it would mean the world to me :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"But Darry! You said you'd go!" Ponyboy cried as Darry drank from his glass of water.

Darry sighed; he really didn't want to go to the hospital; not when even more bills were getting posted and money was getting tighter and tighter.

"Ponyboy, I'm fine. Quit worrying about me." Darry said sternly, and Pony huffed.

"But you said-" Ponyboy started, but Darry held his hand up.

"I don't want to hear it, Ponyboy!" he snapped, and Ponyboy folded his arms and glared at his older brother.

"Don't give me that look." Darry ordered, and Pony sighed.

"Your eyes look worse. The yellow's gone darker now." He told his brother, but Darry didn't want to hear it.

"It'll heal." He stated, and Ponyboy frowned.

"You _need_ to go the doctor's, Darry. It'll get even more worse if you just leave it." He tried, but Darry shook his head.

"If it _does_ get worse, which it won't, I _promise_ I'll go to the hospital. But I'm not gonna waste money when there's nothin' wrong." He said firmly, and Pony frowned again. "Now, I'm gonna be late for work. And you'd best head to school."

Ponyboy grumbled but did as he was told. He knew there was no way that he'd be able to convince Darry to go to the hospital unless there was something seriously wrong with his oldest brother.

Ponyboy stumbled into home room one minute before he would get a late tick on his record.

Mr Leopold scowled; he didn't like greasers at all.

Ponyboy sat down in his place next to Lawrence, another greaser but not a hood, who was busy scribbling down in his notebook. When Ponyboy sat down next to him however, he quickly shut it and smiled at his friend.

"Hey Curtis, how's it goin'?" he asked. Ponyboy sighed.

"Not good." He muttered, and Lawrence frowned.

"Why not? Family issues?" Lawrence said, and Pony nodded.

"You could say that. Law, you know when your mom…well when she was sick last year, were you going to take her to the hospital earlier but she refused?" Ponyboy questioned awkwardly. He didn't really like bringing up his friend's mom; she had died a little over four months ago from ovarian cancer.

"Uh…I don't really remember." Lawrence answered honestly, and Ponyboy rubbed his temples.

"It's just because I'm a little worried about my brother, Darry. He isn't looking too good, and he's got jaundice. Do you think it could be anything serious?" Pony said, and Lawrence shrugged.

"Could be. He should really go the hospital to sort his jaundice out though. Otherwise he'll be stuck with yellow sclerae, and not many people like yellow sclerae." Lawrence chuckled, but stopped when he saw the annoyed expression on his friend's face. "Sorry." He muttered.

"It's okay." Pony sighed; Lawrence often found himself saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"Everybody answer your name for registration." Mr Leopold grumbled, taking out the red folder that lay on his desk. He then opened the folder and pulled out a white sheet of paper with all of the students' names on.

"Elizabeth Abbot." He called, and the blond haired soc answered yes. However, Mr Leopold dropped the sheet of paper on the floor. "Oh dear, I need a pen." The teacher muttered, as if it was all of the students' fault.

Ponyboy groaned; home room always seemed to drag on.

XXX

"For goodness sake!" Darry thundered when he dropped another bundle of roofing. What was up with him today? He usually had no trouble carrying roofing, yet today he felt like he'd never carried a bundle in his life.

"This is the third time today you've dropped a bundle, Curtis!" Andrew, Darry's boss, shouted.

However, when he took a closer look at Darry, he noticed how pale his employee looked.

"Maybe you should take the rest of the day off, Darry; you don't look too good." Andrew stated.

Darry rubbed his aching eyes, and Andrew saw the jaundice.

"Jesus, Curtis! You gotta go get that checked out; yellow eyes aren't normal!" he exclaimed.

Darry was about to protest, but Andrew stopped him.

"Relax; I'll still give you your pay check for the rest of this week, as long as you get those eyes checked out." Andrew told Darry, and Darry couldn't argue.

"Thanks, Andrew." Darry smiled, and got into his truck.

"No problem, Curtis." Andrew smiled back, and then returned to the house that he and his colleagues were working on.

Darry breathed out heavily as he backed out of the drive; he was glad that he had a boss as understanding as Andrew.

When Darry got home, he decided to have a shower to try and soothe his aching muscles. His back had started hurting a lot more lately, yet he didn't know why; he tried to carry less roofing but his back still ached. And his stomach…it felt as if something was eating away at his insides.

Darry cringed before stepping into the hot shower. He was also starting to sweat more, and again he didn't know why; he always felt very cold nowadays.

As the water fell on his bare skin, he suddenly felt a shooting pain through his head and then one even more powerful shot through his stomach area.

"Ah, what the hell?" Darry winced.

He started seeing black and blue dots clouding his eye sight, but figured that the water must have just been too hot, or at least he hoped.

Once the oldest Curtis had towelled his body and hair dry, he made his way into his room and put on some pajamas. They were very thick; since Darry felt very cold.

Darry sat down and switched on the TV to some _Bewitched _reruns and made himself comfortable on the sofa. Or at least tried to; his stomach and back were both aching and he couldn't seem to stop the pain.

"Screw this." The greaser muttered, and stumbled into the kitchen to find some aspirin.

He found a box of them sitting on top of the microwave and sighed in relief; they usually didn't have aspirin in the house since Pony took most of them.

Darry took three of the pills and then set the box of aspirin in the cupboard where it should have been, and then made his way back into the living room. The pain in his back and stomach still wouldn't go away.

After an hour of lounging on the sofa, Darry's stomach and back pains still hadn't gone away, not to mention his head was throbbing like there was no tomorrow.

Darry sighed and stood up. It was only 2 pm, but Darry decided to get a start on dinner. He had skipped out on lunch as well as breakfast; he really didn't feel well, and he doubted that he would be eating dinner tonight, but he knew that his little brothers had to eat.

While Darry waited for the chicken cook, he suddenly felt another shooting pain go through his head and stomach, except this time they were a lot sharper, and were continuous.

Darry prayed silently that his pains would stop, but they showed no sign of stopping. He clutched the counter, and a wave of dizziness hit him. The oldest Curtis groaned before throwing up on the floor.

"I haven't even eaten anything…" Darry shouted, and then he vomited again. Darry wasn't concerned about vomiting; he was more concerned about cleaning up the mess on the floor.

This actually wasn't the first time he had had episodes like this; they started about three weeks ago. But he couldn't tell Ponyboy and Sodapop; they'd be worried about him.

Once Darry was certain that he wasn't going to throw up anymore, he walked into the bathroom to find some cleaning products. The scent of bleach made Darry dizzy, but he knew that he had to clean up the mess so Soda and Pony wouldn't find it.

The oldest Curtis left the bathroom with the cleaning items, but tripped over the arm of the couch. He didn't get up from the floor; he had finally fallen asleep.

**Thanks to Pony'sgirlfriend for the idea!  
I'm not sure I like how I've written this chapter, I hope you all find it **_**okay**_**.  
I'll be updating pretty soon, so have no worries if you're enjoying it so far! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_1946_

_One year old Darry Curtis had been crawling all around the house. Darrell and Shannon decided to call him Darry so that they didn't get confused with the two Darrell's._

_Darrell and Shannon were both sitting on the sofa watching TV, and Darry was on the carpet with some chew toys._

_Shannon looked down at her baby and smiled, _

"_Life can't get any better." She thought to herself._

_Darrell looked at his wife and then at his son and he felt very proud; he and his wife had made their beautiful baby boy. He __**knew**__that life couldn't get any better…well, unless they had any more children, but that was to be thought of when Darry was a few years older._

_Shannon and Darrell both directed their attention back to the TV; they were watching their favorite film 'Stagecoach'._

_Little Darry felt left out; he wanted to be with his parents on the sofa, however he didn't want to cry either._

_He slowly crawled over to the arm of the sofa, and with all his force, he managed to push himself so that he was now sitting on his knees._

_Darrell and Shannon were so intrigued by the movie that they didn't even notice that their only son had crawled away from his chew toys._

_Darry then stretched his arms out and managed to touch the top of the arm of the sofa. He pushed himself up on his knees, and clung to the sofa for dear life._

_Once he was finally able to gain balance, the toddler pulled himself up and stumbled onto his feet, and then stood up._

_Shannon looked down to look at her baby, only to see that he wasn't there. The young woman began to panic._

"_Darrell, Darry's gone!" she exclaimed and stood up._

_Darry, who was shocked by his mother's scream, stumbled over and fell on his face right in front of his parents._

_Darrell and Shannon were overjoyed that their son had walked, yet felt a little bad because their son was now lying face down on the carpet._

_Darrell stood up and scooped his baby boy into his arms, and then laughed loudly._

"_My baby is getting so clever! He's walking!" he chuckled, and slightly tickled Darry under his chin._

_Darry giggled and snuggled into his father's chest, while his mother came over and kissed the top of his head._

_Darry felt proud; he had made the people he cared for most feel proud of him._


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Try not to blink please, Mr Curtis." Dr Orbison said to Darry, and shined a small white light in Darry's eye.

Darry kept his eyes open, but blinked rapidly after the doctor was done with the light. He then looked up at Dr Orbison to see what was wrong.

"Well, you definitely have jaundice, which can be signs of serious illnesses. When did you say the jaundice started?" Dr Orbison asked, and Darry sighed.

"About five days ago." He answered guiltily, looking down at the ground.

"Five?" Ponyboy exclaimed. "But I only saw it about two days…you tried to hide it from me and Soda, didn't you?"

Darry looked up at Ponyboy and nodded.

"What other symptoms have you been having? Any vomiting and nausea? Any back pains and stomach pains?" Dr Orbison questioned, and Darry turned his attention to the doctor.

"Yes, I've been having all these symptoms." Darry replied, and Dr Orbison sighed.

"Any weight loss?" he asked.

"I don't know doctor; the last time I weighed myself was just before I started having these symptoms."

"And what was your weight then?"

"181 pounds." Darry answered.

"Well, do you mind if I weigh you now?" the doctor asked, and Darry nodded.

"I don't mind." Darry said standing up.

Dr Orbison showed Darry over to set of weighing scales, and constructed him to stand on one of them.

Darry did so, and waited for Dr Orbison to check his weight.

"Thank you." Dr Orbison said, and wrote something down on his clipboard.

Darry smiled and got off the scale, and proceeded to ask the doctor his weight.

"Well Darrell, it appears that your weight has dropped to 170 pounds. And how long ago did these symptoms start?"

"About three weeks." Darry answered, biting his lip.

"I think it would be safe if we ran a few blood tests." Dr Orbison stated, and Darry paled.

"How much will that cost?" Darry asked nervously.

"Darry!" Ponyboy and Sodapop screamed at the same time.

"Fine, I'll have them done." Darry muttered, defeated.

"Great! You should be able to get them done as early as tomorrow; not many people need them." The doctor grinned, and Darry rolled his eyes at the doctor's cheeriness.

"That's good…" Darry mumbled dryly.

"I'll see you here at about 10 am tomorrow then?" Dr Orbison said, and Darry nodded with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Okay then, that's your check up over." Dr Orbison smiled, and Darry grumbled a thanks and left the room with Pony and Soda following behind him.

"You need to stop being so concerned about money all the time, Dar. I mean, if the worse happens, I could always get a job." Ponyboy said, and Darry shook his head.

"You're not dropping out of school." He said sternly, and Ponyboy looked up at his brother.

"I'd only get a part-time one. But Darry, if something really bad happens, we're gonna need money, and when you can't get it…"

"Don't talk like that! I don't know why everybody's making a big deal about this! It's not as if I'm dying!" Darry shouted, alarming an old lady in a wheelchair. She quickly wheeled down the hallway, away from the three brothers.

"Darry…me and Soda found you passed out on the floor when we came home!" Ponyboy exclaimed.

"Not to mention when you woke up, your temperature was almost at 103." Sodapop added.

"Alright, I get it! Quit bugging me about it!" Darry ordered, and his two brothers shut their mouths.

Not a word was spoken on the way home from the hospital. Only the soft tune of _My Girl_ was playing from the radio; at least it added a little bit of noise.

Once Darry had shut the engine off, he stormed out of the truck and into the house before either of his brothers had taken their seatbelts off. Ponyboy sighed and Sodapop shrunk in his seat; he didn't like it when Darry was upset.

"Why's he so difficult?" Ponyboy growled, and Soda chuckled.

"You talk about him like he's a little kid, Pony. I'm pretty sure Dar's just worried; you're always the same when you're sick." Sodapop stated.

"Hmmm…" Ponyboy mumbled, then unfastened his seatbelt and climbed out of the truck. Sodapop followed his little brother's actions and slammed the door shut.

The two youngest Curtis's walked into the house where they were greeted with Darry sitting on the couch cracking open a can of beer.

"Strange…Darry never drinks beer." Sodapop thought. It was Pony who spoke his thoughts.

"Darry, why are _you _drinking beer?" Ponyboy asked his brother, and Darry glared at his little brother.

"Quit acting like my mom, Ponyboy. First you force me to the doctors when I didn't even need to go, and now you're telling me what I can and cannot do? What's gotten into you lately?" Darry grumbled, taking a sip from his beer.

"What's gotten into _me_? Are you serious?! It's you who you should be concerned about, Darry - you! Why do you never think of yourself? What if it's something serious? Are you just gonna refuse treatment because we _need_ the money? Darry, we need _you_! And if you're too blind to see that, then I will be concerned about you. Because you're my brother and I love you!" Ponyboy yelled, and Darry started crying.

"That's what I'm scared of, Pony! What if it is something serious? You're only sixteen and Soda works in a goddamned gasoline station! What are you both gonna do if I'm sick?!" Darry sobbed, and threw the can of beer on the floor.

Ponyboy and Sodapop both looked at each other before walking over to the couch and sitting on either side of their big brother.

"Darry, you need to worry about yourself. If you really are sick, me and Pony will worry about that. But right now, the person who you should be concerned about is you. If things really do turn out bad, I'll try and find a higher paying job, or better: I'll get another job as well as the one in the DX. And like Ponyboy said, he could get a part-time job after school; he's old enough to work. We're all gonna be fine…I promise you." Soda explained, and Darry looked at both of his brothers.

He could see determination in their eyes, as well as love, and he knew that whatever happened, he would be okay; they all would be.

"Alright guys. Thanks." Darry said, and ruffled both of his brothers' greasy hair.

"Anyway, I'm probably not sick. I'm probably going through some strange life stage." Darry told his brothers. He hoped that's what it was anyway.

"After all…I am Superman."

**AN: Wow, Darry's real stubborn, isn't he? You gotta love him though; who doesn't love any of the Curtis Brothers?  
Please review, I'd love it if you did :D  
By the way I named the Doc, Dr Orbison, because for some weird reason I was thinking of **_**Pretty Woman**_** while I was writing this chapter… – Dr Orbison is secretly called Roy XD **


	6. Chapter 6

_Late 1947_

_One year old Darry Curtis had been gurgling and babbling since he first discovered how to make sounds with his mouth. He had not said any real words yet however._

_Whenever Darry opened his mouth, Shannon and Darrell always begged for Darry to say a word, but he never did._

_That was until one day, Shannon and Darrell had to go and visit Darrell's mother and father. Darrell's mother was kind-hearted just like Darrell, however Darrell's father was horrid._

_Shannon and Darrell were busy talking in the car while little Darry was strapped into one of the back seats._

"_You look a lot like your father, Darrell." Shannon remarked, and Darrell sneered._

"_Are you calling me ugly?" he chuckled, and Shannon grinned._

_The baby wasn't sure why, but he liked the sound of the word ugly. The 'ug' sound made him giggle delightedly, gaining attention from both of his parents._

"_We're actually quite lucky that Darry can't talk yet; he'd probably be telling my old man about all of our discussions we've had, including the 'you know what' discussions." Darrell laughed, and Shannon turned red._

"_Never speak of those in public." She demanded, and Darrell nodded._

"_Don't worry, I won't." Darrell claimed, and then turned around to face his son._

"_That goes for you too, little one." He chuckled, tickling Darry's tummy._

_Darry squealed and smiled at his father, icy-blue eyes shining like glass._

_The rest of the ride to Ardmore, almost a three hour drive from Tulsa, consisted of Shannon and Darrell singing to their favorite songs and Darry gurgling endlessly._

_Once they finally arrived at Darrell's parents' house, Darrell unstrapped his baby boy from the car while Shannon gathered their belongings._

"_Need any help, love?" Darrell asked Shannon, fixing Darry, who was now asleep, on his hip._

"_No thanks, I'm fine." She said, and picked up the heavy suitcase effortlessly._

_Darrell smiled; even though his wife was small, she almost had as much strength as him. He often called her Superwoman for her nickname, which drove her insane._

_The young man knocked on the door, and his father answered the door._

"_Oh, it's you." He said with a bored expression on his face. "And you have a kid…"_

"_Dad, your grandson was born over a year and a half ago. This is my son." Darrell snapped, angry with his father's comment._

_Darrell's father, Bernard, just shrugged and left to alert his wife that his son's family had arrived._

_Thelma, Darrell's mother, came running out to greet her son and his family._

"_There's my baby boy!" she screamed, picking up a half-asleep Darry out of her son's arms._

_Darry squealed delightedly; he loved his grandma a lot. He certainly wasn't sure about his grandfather however._

_Darrell's brother and sister came running out to see Darry._

_Darrell's younger sister, Gloria, was pregnant with her first child while his older brother, Lloyd, already had a three year old daughter named Vera._

_Gloria kissed Darry on the forehead while Lloyd rubbed the little boy's hair with his rough hand. Darry wriggled around a little but allowed his aunt and uncle to coddle him; they were in his good books. The only person who wasn't in Darry's good books was Bernard._

_The family went inside and everybody sat in different places: Darrell and Shannon on one sofa with Darry in-between them, Gloria on another sofa all to herself because she was lying down, Thelma in her rocking chair and Lloyd and Bernard on two different recliners. Vera was there aswell, but she was upstairs sleeping._

_After half an hour of watching some movie from 1939, Darry got bored and made a weird sound to get his parents attention._

"_Are you tired, little man?" Darrell asked, and Darry stared up at him._

_Thelma got up from her rocking chair and picked Darry up from the sofa and nuzzled his forehead with her nose. Darry giggled, and Thelma smiled._

"_Can you say grandma?" she said to Darry, and Darry opened his mouth. Everybody's breath hitched, but Darry just gurgled. That just made everybody sigh in annoyance._

_Bernard got up from his recliner and stood by his wife and glared down at Darry._

"_You're almost two years old. You need to say something!" Bernard groaned. _

"_Don't push him, dad." Gloria sighed._

"_He needs to talk!" Bernard shouted. Darrell was about to tell his father off, but Darry opened his own mouth first._

"_Ug-ug…UGLY!" Darry screamed, pointing a finger at Bernard._

_Everybody in the room gasped, and then everybody except for Bernard burst into fits of laughter._

_Bernard's face turned scarlet, and the man stomped out of the room, embarrassed._

_Darrell took Darry from his mother, and he and Shannon kissed their baby boy. Darry just smiled up at his parents._

_Thelma went to go and see if Bernard was okay, Lloyd left to wake up Vera, and Gloria looked at Darry and winked at him._

"_Finally, somebody taught my father a lesson." She said aloud, and Darrell and Shannon burst into fits of laughter again._

**AN: Hey guys, so I bring you two chapters because I didn't update before. I apologize for that; my internet connection was down for a lot of the day, plus I had a piano lesson and was practicing it a lot of the day. I might be travelling to a different city tomorrow, and I've got a stupid math exam the day I go back to school which I need to study for so that might mean two more chapters tomorrow evening!**


	7. Chapter 7

"So you actually convinced your big brother to go to the hospital?" Lawrence asked, sipping from his carton of apple juice. Ponyboy shook his head.

"Well, not exactly. Me and Soda came home at the same time, and we both found Darry passed out on the floor." Pony explained.

"Ha, me and Angie have many a time found Tim passed out on the floor, but we just leave him there." Curly chuckled, stealing Lawrence's notebook. "Why do we need to know about reciprocals? I mean, it's not as if I'm gonna need reciprocals later on in life."

"That's just like…I don't know." Lawrence sighed, and Curly chuckled once again.

"So Lawrence, are you gonna be able to work on our project after school? It's just because I've got a ton of science homework to do tomorrow; tonight's the only night I can really do." Pony said, but Lawrence frowned.

"I really would, Pony. But, it's my mom's birthday today and we were gonna buy some flowers…" he swallowed, "and then visit her grave." Lawrence put his head in his hands, and Ponyboy felt bad.

"Sorry, Law, I understand. You could maybe come over to my house on Saturday and we can work on it then." He smiled. "Speaking of which, Curly, Two-Bit said you and your family could come to dinner with us; it's his mom's birthday."

"Sorry but Tim would skin me. It's my dad's six year anniversary since he died on Saturday, and as much as I hate it, it's just somethin' I have to do." Curly muttered.

Ponyboy frowned; he knew that he and his friends all had one thing in common: at least one of their close family members were dead.

"Sorry to hear that, Curls. I'm sure Two-Bit's family will understand." Ponyboy uttered, and gathered all of his books together.

Lawrence copied his friend while Curly went off to cut class for the rest of the day.

Ponyboy and Lawrence departed to their classes; Ponyboy had English and Lawrence had Geography.

Ponyboy walked into the class and was greeted by Mr Syme, who was still teaching at Ponyboy's school, and he was still the nice and funny teacher that he always had been.

Pony sat down next to a girl who everybody was very wary of, including Pony himself.

Her name was Cheryl. She was tall, light skinned and wore too much eye makeup. Her eyes were a dark green, and her hair was as black as raven feathers. Her bangs slightly covered the top of her eyes, and freckles cluttered her tinted cheeks.

When Ponyboy sat down next to her, she instantly pulled away, however Ponyboy did not miss the picture that she tried to hide from him.

It was a picture of a girl who couldn't have been older than eleven years old. She looked a little like Cheryl, except her hair was a light blonde, freckles covered her entire face rather than just her cheeks, and of course she didn't have the heavy eye makeup on. Her eyes however, were exactly like Cheryl's.

Ponyboy looked at Cheryl, and saw that tears were starting to form in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away and turned to Ponyboy and smiled at him.

"That girl…that's my sister. Her name was Dawn, even though she was born in the evening." Cheryl laughed, her cheeks turning pinker.

"Her name _was_ Dawn?" Ponyboy said, looking more closely at Cheryl.

Cheryl nodded, and a few tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Yep, and that stupid disease took her away! You know the one with six letters…the one that begins with a C…THE ONE THAT KILLS EVERYBODY!" Cheryl screamed, and shoved all of her books onto the floor.

Ponyboy gasped as Cheryl stood up and stormed out of the classroom. Everybody stared at him, as if it was his fault that Cheryl was upset.

The picture of Cheryl's sister fell out of her pocket, and when Mr Syme rushed after Cheryl, Ponyboy went and picked the picture up and just stared at it. Cheryl was in the background of the picture pulling a funny face, and she actually looked happy and a lot healthier; she didn't have all of the eye makeup on, her skin had a natural glow to it, her hair was brushed out of her eyes which were gleaming like diamonds, and the look she gave her sister was remarkable; it showed that Cheryl really did _love _her sister. Ponyboy used to wonder if Cheryl could actually love anybody since she seemed like such an unemotional person, but it seemed like she did, but the person who she had loved had been taken away from her.

"I guess nobody's life can stay gold forever…" Ponyboy thought.

XXX

"Welcome, Mr Curtis. Please, have a seat." Dr Orbison said to Darry as Darry ambled into the room.

Darry had had his blood tests taken a few days ago, and today would be the day when he would finally get his results.

"Now, I have the papers here, but I haven't opened them yet since they're technically yours and I wouldn't want to open them without your consent." Dr Orbison stated. Darry nodded.

Dr Orbison sat down on his chair and looked at Darry.

"Now, before I give you the results: have things gotten better, worse, or have they stayed the same?" the doctor asked, and Darry shuffled in his seat.

"Well, I'd say the same really. I throw up at least twice a day, and I think I've lost more weight." Darry answered, biting his lip.

"Hmmm, okay then. Have you been experiencing any indigestion lately?" he questioned, and Darry turned red but nodded all the same.

"Just checking. Have you been eating much lately? And how have your sleeping patterns been; are they regular or irregular?"

"Well, I don't feel much like eating, and I can't really get to sleep at night because my back and stomach hurt like hell." Darry explained, rubbing his belly for emphasis.

"I see. Well, I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer; you deserve to know your results." Dr Orbison smiled, and grabbed the white envelope sitting on his desk.

He opened it slowly, making Darry's heartbeat drum faster and faster due to the tension. Darry felt sick, but he assumed it was just because he was stressed.

Dr Orbison scanned over the sheets of paper, and then reread them all again. The doctor gulped when he looked up at Darry again.

"I'm very sorry to inform you, Mr Curtis…" the doctor started, and breathed out heavily.

Darry bit his lip so hard that it started bleeding, and his stomach started feeling worse and worse.

"I'm afraid you've got pancreatic cancer." Dr Orbison said sympathetically, looking at Darry who was now shaking.

"Are you okay, Mr Curtis? Would you like some water?" the doctor asked, standing up.

Darry suddenly paled to a sickly white color and threw up in the garbage can next to the doctor's desk. He wanted, he _hoped_, that this was all a nightmare, however his mind already knew that this was real life.

Darry breathed out heavily and fell on his knees on the cold, white floor.

"_Not even Superman can get out of this one_."

**Oh my gosh I am so sorry for not updating yesterday; we were in a different city all day then when I got home I had to study for my math exam and do my homework that I didn't do on spring break. Anyway, now ya'll finally know what's wrong with Darry. I actually chose pancreatic cancer because that's what Patrick Swayze died of, and even though it's sad I want to sort of dedicate this story to him. Also, I'm sorry that this chapter is a little rushed, but I wanted to update as soon as possible for you guys :)  
I will be updating tomorrow, til then ~Stay Gold~ :)**


	8. Chapter 8

_Early 1948_

"_Darry, can you come in here a second, please?" Darrell Curtis called to his son._

_Darry warily emerged out of his room; usually if his dad called him, he was in trouble. Still, Darry wasn't about to disobey his father._

"_Come and have a seat, son." Darrell said, patting the space next to him._

_Darry walked over to his father and did as he was told. He looked at his mother, who was currently lying down on the other sofa with her hands over her belly._

"_Your mother and I have some great news, Darry." Darrell smiled, ruffling Darry's hair. Darry's eyes swivelled back to his father again, and he grinned up at his dad._

"_Darry, you're going to have a little brother or sister." Shannon announced. Darry's eyes widened; he was both shocked and excited. Some kids in his preschool had older brothers and sisters, while others had really little brothers and sisters. Darry felt a little jealous of the kids; it seemed that they really enjoyed having siblings._

_But now, he was going to have one. And Darry was happy, yet scared; what if his parents forgot about him?_

"_Will you still love me?" the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them._

_Shannon and Darrell glanced at each other before smiling at their son._

"_Of course, baby, and we will always love you, no matter what." Shannon stated, pulling Darry over to her and kissing him._

"_I'm not a baby." Darry frowned. He had recently turned four, and did not want to be known as a baby anymore._

"_You'll always be our baby." Darrell grinned, pulling Darry away from his wife to mess up his hair._

_Darry squeaked, however he had to admit: he was enjoying the attention._

"_When are you going to have the baby, mommy?" Darry asked once Darrell had stopped trying to mess up his hair and was now cuddling Darry on the sofa._

"_Oh don't worry, honey; it won't be for at least seven months. It turns out I've been pregnant for over six weeks, isn't that wonderful?" Shannon exclaimed._

_Darry nodded; he wanted to show his parents that he was a big boy and he could understand what they were talking about, however in reality he didn't even know what the word 'pregnant' meant._

"_It is wonderful, dear." Darrell said, and then looked at Darry. "Hmm, it's 4 pm, little man. Would you like to go to sleep for a little bit?" he asked, picking Darry up under his arms._

_Darry shook his head and cuddled into his dad's chest._

"_I'm a big boy so I don't need to go to bed." Darry stated, though he couldn't help but yawn a little; preschool was tiring!_

_Darrell and Shannon both chuckled, making Darry shake a little in his father's arms._

"_Me and your mom still have to go to bed, and we're grown-ups." Darrell laughed, bouncing Darry lightly in his arms._

_Darry sighed but couldn't help but feel extremely tired._

"_Okay, fine." He yawned, and snuggled down in his dad's arms._

_Darrell decided to just let his son sleep in his arms; after all, his son always preferred sleeping in his dad's arms over his own bed._

_**XXX**_

_October 1948_

"_Baby boy, we're almost at the hospital, okay?" Thelma Curtis said to Darry as her son, Lloyd, drove the car._

_Darry just mumbled a reply, too tired to answer. He had been in the middle of having a nap at his grandmother's house, since he was staying for the weekend, and was interrupted by a phone call from his father._

_Shannon had gone into labor three days earlier than her due date, which wasn't a problem except for the fact that Darry was at his grandmother's house which was three hours away from Tulsa._

_Bernard and Thelma had decided that they didn't want to be with each other anymore, however they didn't divorce because it seemed too complicated for them. Instead, Bernard moved forty minutes away from their home, but Thelma was still Thelma Curtis. _

_Since Thelma couldn't drive, Lloyd had to drive them instead, which was okay since Lloyd, Vera and Lloyd's wife, who was called Emily, were living with Thelma after Bernard had moved out. Gloria moved out six weeks after she had given birth to her little boy, Gerald, and they lived with Gloria's husband. They only lived four blocks away from Thelma's house._

_Thelma had to get Darry out of bed, which was quite a problem since the little boy was very grouchy._

"_Come on, sweetheart; your mommy's had the baby." Thelma whispered, but Darry wouldn't budge._

_Lloyd eventually wandered into the bedroom, wondering why his mother and Darry weren't outside yet. He sighed and picked Darry up easily and headed outside with Thelma following._

_Once Darry was strapped into the car seat, Thelma and Lloyd got into the car and Lloyd started driving._

_It was 2 am in the morning, however Thelma wanted to ensure that Darry saw his new baby sibling as soon as possible. Vera and Emily were still asleep, however Thelma had left a note on the refrigerator for Emily that she would call after 9._

_The three hour car ride to Tulsa was quiet. Darry slept through the whole journey, Thelma listened to the music on the radio, and Lloyd kept all of his concentration on the road._

_When the trio arrived at the hospital, Lloyd was tired, Thelma was stiff, and Darry was fast asleep. Thelma and Lloyd sat there for a few moments before deciding to get out of the car._

_It was now 5:10 am, so hardly anybody was parked in the parking lot of the hospital. Lloyd got out while Thelma shook Darry awake. Darry groaned, however he wasn't as tired as he was before._

_Thelma took Darry's hand, and all three walked into the hospital together._

"_We're looking for Shannon Curtis." Thelma announced, and a small nurse smiled at her._

"_Just through those hallways." She directed, pointing down to the hallways. "She's in room 34."_

"_Thank you." Thelma replied, and made her way through the hallways. They eventually found the room, after getting lost nearly five times._

_Shannon was sitting on the small white bed in her hospital room, holding a baby in her arms. Darry asked himself if he was that small when he was born._

"_Darry, would you like to meet your baby brother?" Shannon asked weakly, holding up the bundle. Darry nodded and slowly made his way over to his mother. Darrell, who was sitting down, smiled at Darry and patted his back._

_Darry stopped in front of his mother and sat on the bed, then held his arms out. Shannon grinned faintly and passed Darry the baby. _

_Once the baby was in Darry's arms, the baby began to cry, however Darry rocked him back and forth and he soon calmed down._

_Shannon smiled at Darrell who smiled back; they were glad that Darry was warming up to the baby._

_The baby quickly fell asleep in Darry's arms, and Darry smiled before passing the baby back to his mother._

"_What's he called?" Thelma asked._

"_Sodapop Patrick." Shannon replied with a cheery voice._

_Thelma and Lloyd exchanged glances, obviously shocked; what kind of a name was Sodapop?_

"_We wanted to be original. I thought of Soda, and Shannon laughed and said that she felt like a soda pop. It's original, isn't it?" Darrell grinned, and Thelma raised her eyebrows._

"_Definitely original." She muttered._

"_Sodapop." Darry chuckled, liking the sound of the name. He also liked his new brother, but he didn't know how much he loved him; he was only little after all. _

**AN: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story for a few days; I've just been really busy! I would've updated earlier today, only for the fact that some boys were kicking a soccer ball around outside my school, and I ended up getting hit in the head with it and got very dizzy. I'm okay now though, and I'll be updating soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Cancer…you have c-cancer?" Sodapop stuttered, starting to shake.

Darry nodded, and tears threatened to spill out of his blue eyes. Except now, they weren't like two shards of ice. No, they looked so much different now. Like when he had hit Pony, his eyes were filled with genuine fear. However, he didn't cry; Darry was too stubborn for that.

"Pancreatic cancer? What's a pancreas? " Soda asked, wiping the tears away from his eyes. He knew that the pancreas was a part of the human body, but he didn't know where. But you didn't even have to know what type of cancer it was; anything with the word _cancer_ was enough to make someone have a panic attack. That's why Darry hardly ever smoked; _cancer sticks_ was what everyone referred to cigarettes as, and Darry wanted to avoid the risks as much as possible. But now he had it, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"I'm not even sure. All's I know is that it's behind your stomach and next to your small intestine. But it sure hurts like hell when there's something wrong with it." Darry chuckled, trying to lighten Soda's mood. However, Soda didn't even crack a smile back at Darry; he was far too upset and confused. Hadn't they been through enough already? First their parents, then Johnny and Dallas, and now Darry?

Darry stared at Soda and actually felt a stabbing pain in his heart; Soda looked so much different without his smile. The oldest Curtis felt like it was his fault that Soda was upset; why did he have to go and get cancer all of a sudden?

"I'm sorry, Soda." Darry said, ashamed of himself. Soda cocked an eyebrow.

"For what, Dar?" he asked.

"Getting cancer. I mean, we were doing just fine, then _I _have to go and get cancer. It's my fault; I shouldn't have-"

"Whoa, Darry! It's not your damn fault that you've got cancer! It just happened – it's nobody's fault!" Soda shouted, actually shocked that Darry would think that him getting cancer was his fault.

Darry flinched back, however a sharp pain went through his stomach.

"Ah, I don't feel too good." Darry sighed, swaying round a little.

Soda reached his hand out and pulled Darry closer to him; he didn't want his older brother passing out. He felt how light Darry actually felt, and how helpless he looked. Soda then realized that Darry had certainly grown up before his time, but behind all of that, he was still just a kid; even if he was 22 years old.

"Apparently it's really uncommon for people under 60 to get it. Guess I got lucky." Darry mumbled, and cursed loudly.

"Darry!" Soda scolded, smacking his brother on the shoulder lightly.

"Since when did you become the big brother?" Darry smirked, and Soda finally smiled.

"Well, you can't do it _all _by yourself." Soda stated, and Darry pulled him into a headlock.

"You know, even with cancer, I can still kick your ass." Darry claimed, and began tickling Soda. Sodapop squealed and dramatically fell on the floor, and then held his hands up.

"Yup, you haven't changed." Sodapop declared. "Yet…" he added under his breath.

He thought that Darry hadn't heard that last word, but he did, and it hurt. A lot.

The oldest Curtis sighed before helping Soda off the ground. Soda brushed the dust off his pants and looked Darry in the eye – he was no longer smiling anymore.

"We're gonna need to tell Pony when he gets home." Soda announced, as if there was a big audience watching him. Darry put his head in his hands; he was afraid of what his little brother's reaction would be. Sure, Pony was mature for his age, but he was still a little boy who was very sensitive, and Darry knew that he had to be careful with his words if he didn't want Ponyboy to run away like last time.

"I'll talk to him if it makes you feel any better." Soda offered, but Darry shook his head.

"Nah, it wouldn't be right. I need to do it myself; he needs to understand that it's not the end of the world and I'm gonna be okay."

"Are you sure, Darry? Last time you said that, Johnny and Dallas ended up dead." Soda said bitterly, but regretted it when he saw Darry's face drop. "I didn't mean it like-"

"Nope, I understand. You're right, the night Ponyboy and Johnny ran away, I told you everything was going to be okay…and it wasn't. So I guess I'm just a liar. You know what, Sodapop? I lied about this whole thing; I don't really have cancer, Johnny and Dally are still alive, mom and dad are still on vacation, and I'm going to college. Everything is just a lie. I'm fine; you're fine, so let's leave it at that!" Darry yelled, and sunk to the ground.

Soda was at his side instantly and hugged Darry, who at first didn't return the hug, but eventually settled down.

"Listen, Dar, it's okay. I'm sorry; you're right, everything will be okay. I guess I'm just scared. Hell, if I'm scared then I don't know how the hell you must be feelin', but we're all gonna be okay." Soda assured Darry, who was trembling. Darry nodded and eventually stopped shaking, however he was afraid to talk; he knew if he did then he would burst into tears, and Darry didn't want to do that in front of his younger brother.

"What's goin' on in here? Why are ya both on the floor?" Soda and Darry snapped their heads up to find Ponyboy standing by the door with a confused look on his face. "Is everything okay?"

"Ponyboy, why don't you sit down?" Darry said, standing up and walking over to Ponyboy. Ponyboy still had the confused expression on his face but sat down anyway.

"I'll leave you two to talk." Soda announced, heading outside to head over to Steve's house. Steve's dad was out drinking, so that left the two with some time to talk.

"Am I in trouble?" Pony asked once Soda had left. He had a knot in his stomach, knowing that the conversation wasn't going to be pleasant, whatever it was that Darry had to tell him.

"No, you're not in trouble, but I can tell you, you're not going to like what you're about to hear." Darry stated sadly, placing his hands on his knees.

Ponyboy gulped but shrugged, "Well, whatever it is, it can't be that bad. What happened? Did you lose your job?"

Darry sighed and started clenching his hands, making his knuckles sore.

"Pony, I've got…I've been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer." Ponyboy's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock. "I'm gonna get through it though, Pony, because we always do." Darry whispered, and a few tears slipped out of his eyes.

Ponyboy was now sobbing; he had lost so much, so many people, and now another person was drifting away too. Why were they being punished so much?

"It's alright, Pony. I told you, we're going to get through it." Darry pleaded; he really hated seeing Ponyboy cry over him.

"Darry, hardly anyone who has pancreatic cancer survives! How can you be so calm?!" Pony yelled, standing up and throwing his hands in the air.

Darry flinched back, actually starting to feel a little afraid of Ponyboy.  
_"So this is what Ponyboy feels like when I holler at him?"_ Darry thought.

"Pony, it's okay. I promise that-" Darry started, but Ponyboy interrupted him immediately.

"Don't Darry, just don't; you know I don't like people making promises when they can't keep them." Pony said bitterly.

"But I will be! I have to be! I just…" Darry whispered, but he felt the tears coming to his eyes. "I can't just leave you two…" he blubbered, and then started crying.

Ponyboy was shocked; he had only seen Darry cry after they found him at the hospital and after Darry was scared that they had lost him like mom and dad. But now, now it was Darry who everyone was concerned for.

"Dar, it's okay." Ponyboy muttered quietly, and sat back down next to Darry and wrapped his arms around his oldest brother. "I'm just worried; you're actin' as if this is no big deal. It's not something you can just forget; it's something you need to fight. And you will Dar, I know you will."

"Yeah, I will." Darry sighed and pulled Pony closer to him. "You know, you're still pretty small, even for a sixteen year old." The greaser smiled, and Ponyboy shook his head.

"You just wish that I was small, so you can baby me." Ponyboy mumbled grouchily. Darry's smile widened and he stood up and picked Pony off the couch. "Darry, stop it!" Pony screamed, but Darry pretended that he couldn't hear and flipped Ponyboy upside down and threw him on the couch.

The greaser regretted his actions when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his back and stomach. An even worse one shot through his head, and the man tumbled over and landed on Ponyboy.

"Dar? You okay?" Ponyboy asked, gently pushing Darry off his body.

"Mmm." The greaser mumbled, rubbing his forehead against one of the cushions. "Guess I can't do my awesome tricks anymore." He sighed, getting up to go and find some aspirin.

"I guess you can't." Ponyboy whispered, and lay down on the couch.

**AN: Hey guys, I'm sorry if this chapter was rushed, but I wanted to update since I haven't updated in a few days. I started writing this yesterday, but I couldn't finish it since I was really tired. **יום עצמאות שמח**! This chapter will hopefully be updated tomorrow, til then…Stay Gold! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

_Mid 1950_

"_Mom, I don't think Soda understands what you mean." Darry stated as his mother wiped away the chocolate that had been smeared across her son's chin. Shannon chuckled and nodded at Darry, who was eating the chocolate that was on his hands._

"_Of course he doesn't; Soda's only a baby aswell. But you're a big boy, so you know that I'm going to be a bit more tired and I won't be able to spend as much time with you as I should be because I'll be at the hospital." Shannon answered, picking her son up and cuddling him._

_Darry looked up at his mother with a pout forming on his lips, making Shannon sigh._

"_Honey, you know that babies are a lot of hard work. I'll be able to play with you more when the baby is born." Shannon said to Darry. Darry's pout didn't disappear, however he nodded his head, showing that he understood what his mother meant. "Now, why don't you go and see if Soda's awake? You can play with him for a little bit." Shannon suggested, however Darry stuck his tongue out._

"_No way! Soda's a baby! He needs to go and play with the other babies while I play with my friends!" Darry insisted. Shannon sighed; Darry was starting to become a lot more difficult since Soda was born._

"_But what about when the new baby is born? Since Sodapop's still a baby, he and the new baby will be playing while you're on your own." Shannon said, and Darry frowned._

"_Okay…" he sighed in defeat, jumping out of his mother's arms. The young boy wandered into Sodapop's room, where his little brother was sitting up in his crib and gurgling. _

"_Soda, you can't be a baby anymore." Darry told his brother, moving closer to the crib. Soda looked up at his brother and pointed at him and giggled._

"_Sodapop." Darry said sternly. "Stop being a baby; there's going to be a new baby soon and mom and dad won't be able to take care of you aswell, so you need to be a big boy, like me." _

_Sodapop, not understanding what was being said to him, held his arms out to Darry. Darry groaned; when would his little brother actually listen to him?  
Still, Darry lifted Sodapop out of his crib, with a lot of difficulty since he was only five years old, but he still managed. He set his brother on the floor and walked out, leaving Soda to crawl behind him._

"_Mom, Soda's being naughty; he won't listen to me." Darry stated as his mother folded up some clothes. Shannon gave Darry a confused look and raised her eyebrows._

"_What do you mean, Darry?" she asked. Darry rolled his eyes; everybody in his family seemed to be acting very silly today._

"_Well, since the new baby's coming, Soda can't be a baby anymore. I keep trying to tell Soda that he can't be a baby, but he won't listen." Darry huffed, crossing his arms. Shannon chuckled and ruffled her son's hair._

"_Darry, just because I'm having a new baby doesn't mean that Soda has to be a big boy like you. He'll still need feeding and changing, just like a baby does. He can't suddenly grow up just because I'm having a baby." She explained. Darry looked up at her sadly._

"_When Soda was born, I wasn't allowed to be a baby anymore." He stated with wide eyes. Shannon looked at her son, confused._

"_What do you mean, honey?" she asked._

"_When you found out you were having Soda, you told me that I couldn't sleep in my crib anymore. You told me that I needed to give my pacifier to Soda, and I wasn't allowed to drink out of my bottle anymore. And everyone likes Soda more than they like me, 'cause he's all cute an' stuff. Only Grandma Thelma and daddy like me now." Darry whimpered, and almost started crying._

_Shannon felt awful; she knew that she had been spending more time with Sodapop, and it was true that when people walked past the family, they usually cooed at Sodapop while completely ignoring Darry. It was obvious that Darry was starting to feel ignored now, and it made Shannon feel bad, really bad._

"_Oh baby." Shannon said, and picked up Darry and cuddled him. Darry snuggled into his mother's embrace while Shannon started moving around slightly. "I promise that we'll start spending more time with each other." She vowed, kissing Darry on the forehead._

_Darry gently pushed his mother's face away from his, and whispered,  
"Mom, you can't kiss me; I'm a big boy." He told her._

"_But to me, you'll always be a baby. My baby." And she would never let him go._

**I am SO SORRY for not updating for these past few days. Truth be told, I was stuck on **_**this**_** chapter which I started writing on Saturday, however it started getting harder but it's finished. Unfortunately, I can't promise that I'll be updating tomorrow, but I will try my best :) Anyway, here's a funny story that happened today: In our Religious studies class, our teacher walked out of the room to talk to a boy who got sent out. When she was outside, one of my friends (who I call my brother for some reason) started humming the **_**Jingle Bells**_** song with a lisp, and then everybody joined in. It was the funniest thing ever, and the teacher didn't hear a thing XD ~Stay Gold~**


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Darry has cancer?! No way!" Steve exclaimed, but Soda quickly hushed him.

"Geez Steve, the whole world don't need to know." Soda muttered, throwing his rag down on the counter. Steve gave Soda an apologetic look.

"Sorry man, it's just so terrible." Steve said sadly, and then edged towards Sodapop to get a good look on his best friend.

The man had dark circles under his eyes, and his skin didn't have its natural glow, and Steve could swear that some gray was starting to spout over the greaser's blond hair. Basically, Sodapop looked like a zombie.

"You don't look so good Soda. Maybe you should go home. I got your shift covered." Steve offered, but Soda declined straight away.

"Nope, I need to get more money by myself. You won't always be here to cover my shifts, and I don't want to become dependent on you." He snapped.

Steve knew that it was from the lack of sleep that Soda was short-tempered, but he couldn't help but feel a _little _bit hurt.

"Sorry for trying to help." Steve grumbled, wiping his forehead and going outside to see if any clients needed assistance. Soda just sighed; he'd been feeling like a screw-up lately, and fighting with his best friend had just made everything seem worse.

Everything was changing in the Curtis household; Darry getting cancer affected all of the boys. Darry was losing weight rapidly, and he was throwing up more and more due to chemotherapy. The greaser's hair had started falling out, though Darry had chosen to not cut it all of just yet. The man refused to eat; his stomach simply couldn't take it.

Sodapop wasn't his cheery self anymore, and though he did smile, it was often forced and people could tell; the greaser just didn't seem to have that sparkle in his eyes anymore. Also, he had started arguing with people lately, making people turn away and resent him. Only a few people understood him, and even they were starting to become annoyed by his attitude.

Ponyboy…well Ponyboy seemed to be affected the most. His grades had started slipping, he was beginning to isolate himself from everyone and unlike Sodapop who faked his smile, Ponyboy didn't smile at all.  
The youngest Curtis didn't eat as much; he was too busy 'sleeping'. Ponyboy didn't tell anyone, but his nightmares had started coming back, and they were worse than before. Luckily, he didn't scream in his sleep, and since he was in a different bedroom he wouldn't be able to disturb anybody since they wouldn't be able to feel him thrash or squirm in his sleep.

The day when Sodapop came home from work after fighting with Steve seemed different though. When the middle-brother walked through the door, he saw that Ponyboy was actually sitting at the dinner table.

"_This is strange; why's Pony sitting at the dinner table? He doesn't even eat no more._"Soda thought, though he didn't say anything, and instead sat next to his younger brother.

"What's the occasion?" Sodapop asked, looking at the food in front of him. It was mashed potatoes and chicken, but for some reason the food didn't look very appetizing to Soda.

"Dar's shaved his hair off." Ponyboy mumbled, picking at his plate.

"So he finally decided to do it? Huh, at least he won't have to watch his hair slowly fall out. Though it's gonna be weird seeing Darry without any hair." Sodapop said lightly.

"It was my fault." Pony blurted suddenly.

"What?" Sodapop questioned; how could Darry shaving his hair have anything to do with Pony?

"I was the one who told him to get it over with, yet when he picked up the razor, I didn't want him to shave it off. When he was done shaving it, he started crying, and it's all my fault; I've just made him more upset." Pony whimpered, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Soda just patted Pony's back gently and smiled at him.

"I'm pretty sure if Darry didn't want to cut his hair off, then he wouldn't have; you know how stubborn he is." Soda reassured, trying to comfort his younger brother.

Ponyboy just withdrew his knees from his chest and slowly raised his head to look at his brother.

"I guess." Pony laughed.

"You don't sound so sure." Soda grinned, and Ponyboy raised his eyebrows.

"What are you-" Pony started, but was cut off when he felt Soda's fingers dig into his sides. "Soda, no!" Pony screamed, and fell of his chair. Sodapop just sat his knees on Ponyboy's stomach and instead started tickling the greaser's neck. Ponyboy squealed and tried to squirm out of Soda's grasp, but it was no use; after all, Sodapop was a lot stronger than him.

Sodapop continued to tickle Pony until he felt himself getting pulled off of the younger greaser. He looked up to see Darry, and instantly his mood changed from happy to shocked.

Darry had tried to hide his shaved head with a cap, but anyone with a brain could tell that the man was clearly bald. His face was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot, though thankfully were no longer yellow.

"Hey Dar." Soda greeted, getting up off the floor.

Darry looked at Soda sadly and sighed.

"You ever gonna look at me the same?" Darry asked, and Sodapop looked at him, confused. "Well, you've never looked at me like that before. Do I really look that bad?" the oldest Curtis went to find a mirror before Soda could respond.

The man looked in the mirror that hung above the sink in the bathroom, and he almost started crying.

"You aright, Dar?" Soda sked from the doorway, and was joined by Pony a moment later.

"I just, I just need some time to…" Darry muttered, but didn't finish his sentence. He took one last look at the reflection that stared back at him, and then punched the mirror with all the strength he could muster.

A big crack ran down the mirror, which made Darry feel awfully upset; he would've been able to smash that mirror into a million pieces if his strength hadn't been taken away from him.

"What the hell?!" Darry screamed, ripping the mirror off the wall and throwing it to the ground. He stomped on it until all of the glass fell out of the frame, and then he just began jumping on it, liking the crunching sound that the glass was making.

Ponyboy looked at Darry, horrified. Darry never lost control, but now, seeing his older brother completely out of control, actually scared Pony.

Sodapop wanted to do something, but was afraid that Darry would turn on him. The man simply just placed his hands on Pony's shoulders and led him down the hall to the living room.

Darry was laughing; he was having a great time listening to the sound of the glass breaking. When he looked up however, he saw that his two younger brothers weren't there, and it actually terrified him.

"_What if they're scared of me?_" Darry thought, and kicked all of the broken glass out of the way.

He quickly made his way into the living room, and saw his little brothers staring at the TV, even though it wasn't switched on.

"Guys?" Darry said warily, edging closer to the couch.

Ponyboy and Sodapop didn't say a word, and just carried on staring into nothing.

Eventually Darry noticed Pony's eyes swivel around, and when he looked in the direction that Pony was looking, he felt his heart break.

Pony was staring at a picture of the whole family, including Mr and Mrs Curtis, all looking happy. They were together, and that's all they needed. But now they were just a broken family, like most families on the East side of town.

"Oh guys…" Darry whispered, and fell to the floor.

Ponyboy's gaze shifted to Darry, however, Soda kept staring…but he wasn't staring at the TV, or anything for that matter. His mind had created a whole new world, where everybody was equal, where illnesses didn't exist, where families were still together, where people were still happy…

**AN: I'm sorry I haven't updated recently guys; I've just been caught up in a lot of stuff. Today, I invited my friend over to watch **_**Ghost**_**, and she had never seen it but I told her that everybody who we knew cried when they watched it. She claimed that she wouldn't cry, and she didn't, though I did (again). I can never have a dry eye when watching the end of that movie, anyone else agree?**


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